About 12 years ago, Brian Trautman did something that a lot of people might think is crazy. He quit his job, sold almost everything he owned, bought a

Meet the Family That Figured Out How to Spend Every Waking Moment Sailing the World

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2021-06-11 21:00:04

About 12 years ago, Brian Trautman did something that a lot of people might think is crazy. He quit his job, sold almost everything he owned, bought a sailboat, and set sail. It wasn’t supposed to be a permanent thing — just an 18-month sojourn — but more than a decade later, Brian is still sailing. Now, he does it with his wife Karin and their 14-month old daughter, Sierra, and they’re not planning on stopping.

Brian and Karin run a YouTube channel that documents their adventures, and since 2012 when they first uploaded a video, the channel has turned into a bit of a juggernaut. It’s grown in popularity so much that, along with a little help from Patreon subscribers, their sailing trip is a fully-funded expedition. I’ve been watching their videos for a while now, and it struck me that they’d be a good couple to speak with about life in general. And as it turns out, they were. They were anchored in Maine when I got a hold of them, waiting for the weather to ease up before embarking on the next leg of their never-ending journey.

Back in 2008, Trautman was working as a software developer — or as he calls it, a “chief mouse clicker” — in Seattle. It was a good job, by any stretch, but something about his life just felt… off.